Feather renovator



De.'13,`193s. K L FINKEL l 2,140,200

v FEATHER RENOVATOR Filed Deo. 9, 1936 9( ling?,

Patented Dec. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to a feather renovator and it has for its object to provide a renovator which is practical and eiiicient in operation as well as simple and durable in construction. Feather renovators embodying rotating agitators or beaters have heretofore been designed but their construction and operation have been such that the feathers would become damp and lumped together making it dimcult to revive them to their original fluffy open condition.

The present invention incorporates a beater or agitator arrangement in which the entire batch of feathers are constantly maintained in a state of agitation and are at the same time subjected rto a traveling jet of dry steam in a manner to restore their naturally fluffy and open state.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a renovator showing one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View, thereof; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are detailed views showing more clearly the construction of one of the agitators or beaters.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I designates a drum supported on a stand 2 and having a door or closure 3 through which access may be had to the interior of the drum for filling the same and removing the feathers therefrom. Journaled in the end walls of the drum, or on the stand, is a rotary shaft 4 of tubular formation so as to serve as a conductor for the supply of the renovating dry steam, one end of the shaft being connected by 35 a pipe 5 to a source of steam supply, not shown,

and the opposite end being connected to suitable gearing 6, to a suitable drive, such as an electric motor l. By the provision of this simple drive and speed reduction gearing 6 a compact ar- 40 rangement is provided which is easily installed and practically operated in a small plant.

One or more beaters or agitators are fixed on the shaft to rotate therewith within the drum, each agitator comprising a pair of radial arms 8 of hollow construction for communicating with the axial passage of the shaft 4 and conducting the steam therefrom for discharge well within the batch or body of feathers being renovated. The radial arms terminate outwardly adjacent the inner periphery of the drum in the form of flattened orices 9, the longitudinal dimension of each orifice extending parallel to the axis of the drum so that the steam will spread outwardly in a fan like manner to reach all of the feathers in and adjacent the path of the beater. The

arms 8 are connected at their outer ends by a cross member I9 which supports an outwardly extending squeegee or wiper II designed to have wiping engagement with the inner peripheryor surface of the drum so as to dislodge any feathers adhering to the surface and more eifectively and thoroughly agitate and keep in motion the feathers of the entire batch. The beaters are staggered about the shaft and the several squeegees have their ends overlap so as to act upon all the feathers. Preferably the squeegees are of rubber or other flexible material.

The fan like discharging orifices or jets 9 are disposed to the rear of the squeegee Il so that following the mechanical action of the squeegees on the feathers the latter will be subjected to the ilulng and opening action of the steam jets as the feathers tumble behind the beater. Fur-V thermore, the flattened jets of steam spread longitudinally of the drum and loosen any feathers from the drum surface over which the beaters may have wiped.

The bottom of the drum is provided with a perforated zone or area I2 which is preferably formed by perforating or punching holes in the circular wall of the drum. This formation provides a continuous and even surface for the beaters to pass over so that theV dirt and foreign particles among the feathers may readily be discharged into an underlying pan I3. On opposite sides of the perforated zone I2 are heating chambers III in which are disposed suitable heaters such as the electrical heating elements I5. Electrical elements are preferred, since it simplifies the installation of the feather renovator. The heat of the resistance elements will be regulated by suitable thermostatic means I6 so as to avoid burning the feathers or impairing their life.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the plurality of relatively staggered beaters or agitators are constantly wiping the inner surface of the drum so as to maintain the entire batch of feathers in a state of agitation and as the feathers tumble over and about the agitators they are subjected to an opening action due to the beating fluid currents issuing from the jets 9 whereby the barbs of the feathers are separated and opened to nish their process of renovation by rendering them natural and fluffy. As a further step in the process of renovation, the feathers are subjected to a blast of cold air while being tumbled about within the drum. This blast may be in the form of a series of jets issuing through the slits I9 from a nozzle 20, the nozzle extending lengthwise of the drum for practically its entire length and being supplied with cold air by a blower 2l. The cold air enters the axial opening 22 of the blower and is discharged tangentially` therefrom through the nozzle 20 for distribution through the jet slits I9 into the drum. The fan of the blower is driven by any suitable means such as by the belt and pulley drive 23 suitably connected to the motor 1. The jets of cold air discharging into the body of warm feathers serve to more effectively open the barbs of the feathers so that when they are finally removed from the drum they have their original fluffy condition restored to them. The cold air may be discharged into the drum simultaneously with the action of the jets of steam although it is preferably done subsequent thereto, the v steam being previously shut off by the valve 24.

When the process of renovation has been completed, the feathers are removed through an opening 25 into an exhaust or outlet pipe I1, after first opening the valve I8. In order to facilitate the removal of the renovated feathers from the drum, the exhaust pipe I1 is connected to the cold air inlet 22 of the blower 2I so that the feathers will be drawn thereinto and .discharged through a tangential outlet 21 over which a bag (not shown) is placed. A valve 28 provided in the tangential discharge of the blower is moved by its handle 29 to a position for opening the outlet 21, as by moving the butterfly valve 28 to a midway position wherein it is disposed in an axial plane with respect to the blower outlet. It is not necessary to close off the nozzle 2|] with respect to the blower since the feathers will pass out through the larger area of the outlet 21. However, if desired, the nozzle 20 may be completely closed off when the outlet 21 is open, by a modified type of valve. The delivery end of the pipe I1 may be connected to the inlet opening 22 by any desired type of detachable connection so as to permit ready detachment of the pipe when it is desired to renovate the feathers with the jets of cold air. While cold air is preferable for the process of renovation, jets of warm air may be utilized by having the pipe I1 connected to the cold air inlet of the blower, and for this purpose the valve I8 is perforated, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the blower may remove air from the top of the drum and return it through the slits I9.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the squeegees or wipers II may be adjustably mounted by the screw and slot connections 26 so that as the rubber elements become worn they may be adjusted outwardly to maintain the desired contact with the inner surface of the drum.

While the foregoing has been described in detail, it is obvious that the inventive concept expressed therein may be incorporated in other physical embodiments and it is not thereby the intention to restrict the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A feather renovator comprising a drum, an agitator mounted therein for rotary movement to beat the feathers and having a radially discharging` jet with an orifice spreading laterally with respect to the path of rotation, the jet having a squeegee supporting part, and a squeegee carried by said part and extending in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of the drum, the discharge orifice of the jet being disposed rearwardly of the squeegee and spreading lengthwise of the squeegee to provide a layer of fluid for acting on the feathers as they tumble rearward over the inner edge of the squeegee.

2. A feather renovator comprising a drum, a rotary shaft journaled concentrically therein, a ra-dial arm carried by the shaft and having its outer end formed with an orifice discharging outwardly against the inner periphery of the drum, the forward wall portion of the jet being extended radially to providev a wiper support, and a wiper carried by such support for wiping the inner periphery of the drum in advance of the radially issuing jet of fluid, said orifice being provide-d with means for communication with a source of uid.

LOUIS FINKEL. 

